Two Covered 6 security officers took lifesaving action after coming to the aid of a frantic mother whose infant child was choking on May 26. The incident took place around 11:30 a.m. at the historic 76-gas station at the corner of North Crescent Drive and South Santa Monica Boulevard, when officers Niko Nesbeth and Joey Madrigal noticed the young mother in distress. Surveillance video shows the mother calling out for a doctor as her choking baby was unable to get oxygen and started to turn blue.
Nesbeth, a Marine Corps veteran, and Madrigal are both employed by Covered 6, a veteran-owned and operated private security firm contracted through the city of Beverly Hills. The officers first noticed the panic-stricken woman going through a red light before pulling into the gas station for help.
“The mother throws the baby into my arms and says I need help,” Nesbeth told Fox 11 news. Video footage showed the mother collapsing on the ground in despair. “The baby was turning blue. I tilted him over to the side, tilted him down and started softly patting his back to remove whatever was lodged in his airways. He was crying and tears were coming down, so I knew he was getting air.”
Madrigal called for help, and “within seconds” the Beverly Hills Fire Department was on the way. Drawing on their extensive training and experience, Nesbeth and Madrigal reacted to the situation swiftly, saving the child’s life.
“Just like in any law enforcement agency, you never know what’s going to happen next,” Covered 6 CEO Mike Grant told the Courier. “If you have a strong foundation of training, you will immediately fall back on that. Fortunately for these two officers, they had both been trained in CPR, first aid, and advanced medical training as well. So, when that incident occurred, and they were immediately faced with that challenge, they were able to draw on their training and respond correctly.”
“It was rewarding,” Madrigal said. “However, at the same time, that’s just our job.”
